Category: The Seattle Times

My story about ALWAYS FREE attractions in the Seattle area, in the Sunday Seattle Times! No magical tickets to pounce on, no specific day of the month, no pre-planning required for these fun adventures. Here’s a link.

The Space Needle gets all the glory (and the tourists) but I love the Smith Tower observatory. Better value, better story. Open air observatory on the 35th floor of what used to be the tallest building west of the Mississippi. Smith Tower remained the tallest building on the earthquake-prone West Coast, until the Space Needle…

When I left my job at MSN to be a stay-at-home mom, I would never have imagined it’d lead to a new beginning writing about kids’ activities. As my kids have grown, I’ve graduated from covering splash pads and story times to family-friendly travel. I know someday they won’t want to go on adventures with…

So that’s why they call it the golden hour. Finally on the other side of the Big Dark, sunset at 6:05 p.m.

The brothers behind Secret Congee* are up to something again. This time, they’ve turned Ginger & Scallion into a khao soi bar. There’s only one thing on the menu, and that’s the point: to do one thing, and do it well. Their khao soi (pronounced like “cal soy”) recipe comes from northern Thailand; it’s a coconut curry…

When Joseph was little, we’d walk down to Lake Union and spend hours watching the seaplanes taking off and landing. It was a total bucket list item to go up in one of Kenmore Air’s seaplanes. We went for a scenic flight over Seattle and it was an unforgettable experience. The ride was so smooth,…

Evening commuters at Colman Dock.

Two billion people around the world are celebrating Lunar New Year, and even though I grew up with the traditions, I never knew WHY we do these things. Why do we wear red? Why do we have lion dances? I asked cultural experts in Seattle for this Seattle Times story. Here’s a link: https://www.seattletimes.com/life/culture/what-to-know-about-lunar-new-year-traditions/ Happy new year! I…

One thing I think every Seattle kid should do is see the underground in Pioneer Square. In Seattle’s first neighborhood, there’s a sidewalk UNDER the sidewalk. What’s now the street-level entrance used to be a second-floor balcony. You can only see the Seattle underground on a guided tour and it’s worth the admission. Basically, all…

We accidentally discovered that the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum in Everett is now… FREE. Admission used to be $20+ per person! The person at the front desk didn’t know why, but as of 2025, it’s now free for everyone. There are three hangers full of mostly WWII planes and tanks. The whole complex…